“Truth is Beauty” to Soar Over San Leandro’s New Tech Campus

Truth is Beauty, an iconic, 55 foot tall sculpture of a woman designed and built by artist Marco Cochrane, will arrive in San Leandro at her new home at Westlake Urban’s new Tech Campus (currently under construction) sometime in the summer of 2016. Designed by the artist to visually express the potential and as yet unleashed power and energy of women in a world where they feel safe, this inspiring sculpture is sculpted of stainless steel, weighs 13,000 lbs and will light up San Leandro nights with 2,500 LED lights. Truth is Beauty’s lights can be patterned to reflect the tones of earth, fire, water and many other light patterns. Click here to view an inspiring night video of the sculpture videotaped at Burning Man in 2013.

Truth is Beauty is the 2nd of three similarly sized sculptures known as the Bliss Project, and debuted at Burning Man in 2013. The most well know of the trilogy is Bliss Dance, currently in view on Treasure Island. R’Evolution, the third of the trilogy, is to appear for the first time at Burning Man, Black Rock City, this August.

The Bliss Project’s web site describes what the creation of this powerful trilogy is intended to accomplish:

“I believe the world is out of balance and that we need to listen to women’s voices and understand their intent. They do not speak up as often as men. I believe that one of the reasons for this is the systemic violence against women that has been present throughout history. I think it’s time to take the next step in evolution, to actively create a safe environment for women and to take responsibility for our society.

Truth is Beauty and my other sculptures are intended to demand this change in perspective. They are intended to be catalysts for social change; to de-objectify women and express the basic truth of femininity, a truth that is dangerous for individual women to express. They are a reminder of what we gain when we value women. My hope is to inspire men and women to take action to end violence against women, thus allowing all of us to live fully and thrive.”

Westlake Urban, developers of the San Leandro Tech Campus, arranged the press conference at Marco’s studio on Treasure Island last Tuesday to announce Truth is Beauty’s move to San Leandro in 2016. Dr. Patrick Kennedy, Westlake Urban’s partner in the project, and Jenny Kennedy Linton, President of OSIsoft, also joined in the announcement. OSIsoft will move into the Tech Campus’ Phase I building upon its completion in Spring 2016.

News of the sculpture’s move to San Leandro has gone viral! Click on the image below to see NBC’s coverage of Tuesday’s press conference at Treasure Island, where Truth Is Beauty’s new home was announced.